10 Intense Horror Movies You (Probably) Haven't Seen
2. Daniel Isn't Real (2019)
Adam Egypt Mortimer's future-classic, Daniel Isn't Real, begins in suburbia and ends up in the visceral nightmares of Davids Cronenberg and Lynch.
As a young kid, Luke Nightingale manifests imaginary friend Daniel to deal with his various traumas. Daniel serves as a companion who helps Luke through his parents' divorce until the fateful day he must be banished to the confines of Luke's dollhouse. As an adult struggling to cope with the pressures of an increasingly hectic and unstable life, Luke (Miles Robbins – son of Tim) opens the dollhouse seeking help, unleashing a fully-grown, charismatic Daniel (Patrick Schwarzenegger – son of Arnold) into his life. Though the pair thrive at first, embarking upon an agenda of social and personal reconfiguration, Daniel's true nature begins to reveal itself and Luke faces an otherworldly fight for his soul.
Though part Cronenberg and Lynch, it is to David Fincher the film owes the bulk of its substance, putting a supernatural, body horror spin on the Fight Club template. Loaded with suspense, paranoia and psychological deviations, not a scene of screen-time goes by without notching up the intensity. And if the visuals don't set your teeth on edge, the reality-shifting third act surely will.
By all accounts, Daniel Isn't Real should have made horror royalty of Mortimer, Schwarzenegger and Robbins, but a modest release and scant press attention have thus far consigned it to the back of the shelf. Nonetheless, this is one to watch.